Of a Different Kind
by 6thKazekage
Summary: He was never even given the chance to live...An odd-looking Goliath hatchling is hunted down after an earlier attack on a colony facility. It seemed that it had just broken out of its egg- prematurely, judging by its small size. But a monster is still a monster, and it was the hunters job to kill it. Or will a certain medic object? M for violence, language, and gives more freedom.
1. Chapter 1: Short Lived

**This story was something I thought up after playing ALOT of Evolve. Fun stuff. **

**P.S. If you think you see similarities to THE-BEAST-WARDEN's _We Have a Goliath _story, you are not entirely wrong. The story supplied me with some inspiration while writing this. However, I assure you that both stories are completely different. The only attribute shared between the two that I'm using is the idea of a small monster being taken in by the hunters as a friend/pet/ally. More details are explained in the author's notes at the end.**

**8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8**

**Update 05/15/15: **** Definitely not dead! Just took a break and am working on the next chapter and will be finished around the end of the weekend. And as a treat, I am proud to say that I finished the first piece of fanart for this fic. Just go to my profile to reach the Deviantart link.**

**8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8**

dialogue key:

"Hunter Talking"

_"Hunter Thinking"_

_**"Monster Thinking"**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Evolve (not as a franchise. Only a hardcopy) or any of its characters.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**(Present, forests of Shear)**

He was never even given the chance to live.

The smallish form of the pale-skinned beast lay on the forest floor as the creature that smelled of burning oil made its way toward him. The last time the oily-smelling creature got close, he felt searing pain. The downed animal knew he was going to die.

* * *

**(Flashback)**

The scene is midafternoon at one of the colonist water treatment plants used to filter and decontaminate water for safe consumption. At the moment, though, calamity rained and death was rampant- human deaths for the most part. A Goliath had appeared and attacked the facility without abandon. Now, all of the humans were either dead or held up deep inside their safety bunkers. The Goliath did not care, it had work to do.

* * *

**(One hour later- Inside the facility)**

A man walked up a metal stairway slowly. He was one of the last workers still alive. The rest were down in the basement bunker, radioing for help- hopefully those planet-tamers that everyone on Shear had been gossiping about lately. Meanwhile he drew the short straw and was tasked with going up to the observation deck and see what was going on outside. He reached there shortly enough, sweating bullets from anxiety and exhaustion. He leaned against the protective railing and looked around until something caught his eye, and it made his blood run cold.

To his horror, the man saw the massive form of the Goliath devouring the carcasses of some of his now dead coworkers right down in the middle of the water plant's ground-level work yard. But it didn't stop there, oh no, because a little past the gorging beast he saw a glowing shape that somewhat resembled giant, rocky _egg. _For the colonist worker, he suddenly felt the bad feeling he had turn worse at the sight of the egg. The fearful man spun his head around, scanning the forests surrounding the facility and saw more similarly glowing shapes spaced sporadically throughout the landscape.

The man stumbled back inside to get back to the rest of the survivors and the radio. The hunters needed to hear about this!

* * *

Far off, but still in the general area, was a cave that was carved into the side of a mountain. It tunneled downward about 20 feet, leveled off, and stretched on for another 50 feet or so. At the end of this earthen passage was a single piece of pseudo-spherically rock that pulsed red. It was as if something was alive in there- and there was…

**(View change to inside the egg)**

With a start, the little body spasmed and the mind jolted to life. The newly awakened infant beast quickly took in everything around itself and began to try to comprehend- not like there was much yet. It could hardly see anything with its eyes shut. The beast tried to open its eyes, only to find it impossible. It was dark with only a dim red glow showing through its eyelids (the skin of the eyelids in infants of many animal species and humans are very thin before they mature, so just assume the monster can see a blurry image at the moment). None-the-less, everything was just so new: the pulsing of a heartbeat, the sensation of cerebral nodes sending out and receiving electrical signals from the brain, the cognitions of simple thought- it was very overwhelming. This new life had just gained a state of mind and found itself in a state barely being able to be deemed an organism by anyone as of yet and floating in the fluids filling an enclosed space- an egg.

At the moment the beast was barely more than a fetus about 2 feet long from tip of its nose to the tip of its tail if stretched out flat. The skin was still hadn't matured and was translucent for the most part with veins, muscles, and even some bones able to be seen clearly had there been someone that had been there to observe. This was a yet-to-be hatchling Goliath- one of the deadliest forms of life discovered by the human race to date. However, at the moment he was no threat to anyone. Teeth were just forming and claws were nowhere to speak of.

As he floated in incubation within the fleshy walls of the egg, the Goliathling heard muffled sounds of the outside world. At first it was mostly calm with only the occasional groan or growl of unknown origins. But then he heard loud sounds that broke through the calm: loud roars, sharp and sporadic percussions, and alarmed sounds from other things. The little monster felt slight vibrations along with crashing sounds impacting the ground. All of this went on for... Well, he wasn't sure- still being inside this egg, the very concept of time escaped something such as him. Anyways, the Goliath felt the instinctual fear of vulnerability. He had not even hatched yet and there may be a possibility that the poor creature would die to some predator that could smash through the egg's shell. The only consolation was that everything that the creature heard did not sound anywhere close to him. However, these feelings and sensations were all new and as a result, both curiosity and a sense of urgency rooted into the little guy's mind.

"_**Out…"**_The creature's mind 'spoke'._**"WANT OUT!"**_ It would be the first thought he ever had.

The youngling struggled and tried to move around. He concentrated on directing several body parts at once and flailed around for a while mostly only managing to spiral aimlessly in place. This would have to take some getting used to- being alive- although there was nothing else to do, so the youngling continued to try.

* * *

**(3 hours later- not that the monster knows that)**

Success! Little Goliath had become accustomed to his body enough that he could now 'swim' around in the egg by using his proportionately large forelimbs to steer while using his tail and hips to propel forward. Making sense of this accomplishment, the beastie then took it a step further by placing his humaneque hands- now with small stub claws- on one side of the inside of the egg and pushed as hard as he could. Unfortunately for our little friend here, the attempt to escape his fleshy confines was only met with failure. Even while using the entirety of what little strength he possessed, the egg's shell showed to give no quarter and held strong. The Goliathling did not even manage to make a mark on the internal membrane. It would seem that he would not be leaving any time soon- not without help anyways.

Exhausted from exerting too much force at once, the little beast felt weak and dreary. He could not stop himself from losing consciousness, so he simply gave in. And as he drifted off to sleep the small theropod thought to himself.

"_**Soon."**_ and then his mind slipped into quiet rest.

* * *

**(Another 3 hours later)**

The Goliath youngling's mind awakened once again to the sound of a loud roar.

He looked around myself only to see complete darkness. It would seem his eyelids were no longer translucent and now he was _completely_ blind with the eyes still sealed shut. The beast tried to open his eyes once again, and again was unable to do it. He felt around himself to touch the egg's wall to keep himself coordinated, and noticed that he did not have to reach very far at all. The little monster felt around the entirety of his egg's interior and found that he now fill maybe a third of the space inside the egg. Long teeth could now be felt by his tongue and all five of his limbs had grown sharp claws or spikes. Thin, compact muscles were now all over the beasts frame. He has done some growing while asleep it would seem.

The Goliathling's self-check-over was suddenly interrupted by another roar. It was like the ones he heard earlier before going to sleep, except this time it was long and drawn out until it was abruptly cut off by a series of loud bursting noises that shook the ground. There were no more roars after that. It had just gotten very quiet. The only abnormality that the little beast could tell was that the strange percussive sounds were still heard somewhere in the distance. Other than that, it seemed that the outside had slipped back into a natural calmness like before. However, the egglings mind in contrast was only stirred up by the quiet.

"_**What…Happen?" **_he was genuinely curious to what had happened. What were all of those sounds? What did they mean? Was he in danger anymore?

That last notion sparked the creatures thoughts back to trying to get out of the egg. If there was something out there, he did not want to be stuck in this egg.

He began to frantically pound the side of the egg's interior. Unlike his previous attempt, this time the Goliath managed to tear the membrane. Progress, but that still left the protective outer layer that proved to be quite task to tried to get through. Never-the-less, the beast continued to claw at his prison's wall, determined leave his known world.

_There!_ He felt it! The rough shell was starting to give way. The beast pressed its full mass against the weak point and caused it to crack even more.

"_**Again!"**_ He pushed again and this time, he could feel a slight draft creeping in as the egg's liquid was drained out.

"_**Again!"**_ With one final push, the young monster rammed into and then straight through the shell.

He tripped over himself, not expecting the sudden breaking of the shell and sprawled out in a heap on the ground. The Goliath didn't move for a more than a minute just breathing hard through his mouth and nostrils- his first actual breaths. When he finally leveled out his breathing, the hatchling pushed up on all fours and… lived. He felt the dirt and stone beneath his feet as he shifted his weight. He could feel the cool air on his back.

"_**Free…"**_ The Goliath was now free…But what now?

The percussive sounds from earlier caught the beast's attention. They were closer this time

"_**Danger."**_ He needed to get out of here. But how? He was still blind.

The Goliath unconsciously took in a big breath through his nose and his mind was flooded with information. He smelled everything: dirt, stone, plant, and more. He didn't know what even half the smells meant, but he could tell that there was only one way to go judging by the fact that only one direction had smells coming from it.

He didn't think long on it. The small Goliath took off on all fours while continuously breathing in and out through his nose. He got to where the smells led up, tentatively climbed the rock face, and finally fully exited the place of his birth.

However, now that the beast was out in the open, he was met with scents on all sides. He didn't know where to go. He heard the percussions yet again, and also yet again, closer. The Goliath directed his nose in that direction and inhaled deeply. What he got was a bit of the same as the times before, but this time there was a strong scent of something burnt and oily. His hearing also picked up faint calls that were different from the other wildlife. There was no similarity at all throughout. Just fluctuating growls and mewling.

Whatever they were, they were coming this way, so the Goliath picked a different direction sped and off. After he had put some distance between the egg and himself, he heard the strange calls again and notice that the oily burnt smell- now labeled 'bad' in the Goliath's mind -seemed to be following where he was previously. Could the 'oily' creature smell him? The blind monster pressed on, using his sense of smell to avoid anything that smelled alive- the 'oily' creature being first and foremost.

It seemed to the Goliath that he seemed to be losing the 'oily' as he could no longer smell it, and he hoped he would be able to get away… But it was for not.

Suddenly, the young hatchling's whole body seemed to be spontaneously constricted by something that it did not smell. Inertia carried the beast's body to the ground where he struggled to get free.

What happened? It didn't smell anything just plants, rocks, and dir-

"_**What?!... NO!"**_

The 'oily' smell appeared again, and it was right behind him with another smell that described itself as 'sneaky'- a leathery kind of smell. What just happened? Neither smell were there a second ago. It was if they appeared out of thin air! The 'oily' one started to growl gruffly like before. The Goliath didn't understand a lick of it.

"Thought you could just leave didn't'cha you bastard? Well it's my pleasure ta say your sorry hide is going to be bird food by morning." _CA-CHICK!_

That sound was strange. What was-?

The percussion sounds from earlier blared almost point blank in the Goliaths hearing, and pain exploded on his right flank- the side facing the 'oily' and 'sneaky' creatures. He jerked his muscles and managed to unbind himself from whatever did it. The monster took off as fast as he could, which was now fairly slow thanks to the pain he was now in. He felt liquid leaking from his body. Sounds came from the 'sneaky' one.

"Hahaha. Oh no you don't." _CLICK_. There was a swooshing noise of something flying through the air, followed by a pop.

Once again the Goliath's limbs constricted together, and he fell back to the ground. Both creatures slowly closed in huffing strangely.

"Hahaha. This one isn't even _trying_ to put up a fight. Now that's just sad." The 'sneaky' one mewled.

"Yeah. Guess this one's just weird. Oh well. Just makes our jobs easier." The 'oily' one called back.

**(Flashback has now caught up with present)**

The smallish form of the pale-skinned beast lay on the forest floor as the creature that smelled of burning oil made its way toward him. The last time the oily-smelling creature got close, he felt searing pain. The downed monster knew he was going to die.

_CA-CHICK!_ Here it comes…

But before that could happen, something impacted the ground between the Goliath and 'oily'. A new weird animal call sounded "Hold up! HOLD! UP! _STOP_!"

The new weird mewling sounded in the Goliath's hearing. It was a higher pitch than 'oily' and 'sneaky'. The monster breathed in through its nose. Sure enough, another smell had arrived. This one smelled… like nature. This creature smelled like earth and flowers along with slight 'clean' odors.

The Goliath didn't know what the 'clean' creature was trying to do, but whatever it was it didn't seem to help. A few of the percussions sounded again and he was sent into even more pain. This let out a short, pained howl. Seeming to disregard him, the creatures began to call at one another loudly.

"God dammit! Hank, put your gun down!" 'clean' growled

"Just what the Hell do you think you're doing, girly?!" 'oily' called back.

"Shut the fuck up for a moment and just _stop_, okay?"

The 'clean' one then started to get closer to the Goliath. His breath sped up, bracing for the moment of more pain. But something unexpected happened. There was indeed pain, but not the sharp, devastating feeling. It was a soft, tinder pain that was felt close to where liquid was leaking from his body. He heard the 'clean' one whine lowly.

"Damn. these are some serious holes."

"Caira, what you doing? Get away from it!" the 'sneaky' one cawed over from its spot.

"Didn't I tell you both to shut up?! Let me do my job!" 'clean' roared back.

The creature then turned back to the Goliath and mewled softly. He actually found it quite comforting for some reason.

"Sorry about those assholes, big guy. Hmmm. It looks like they certainly did a number on you, didn't they?... Wait. What's wrong with your eyes? Hold on. Let me get that."

He heard small shuffling sounds before he felt something soft with five digits on his head keeping him still. He then felt as a sharp, cold object cut into my right eyelid. The monster slightly panicked, but did not have nearly enough energy left to do anything about it. He just remained still and let out a low whine as the object repeated the process with his left eye. They now felt weird.

"There how's that?" 'clean' jabbered.

The Goliath gingerly commanded his eyes to open like he tried before. However, this time there was no resistance- merely a bit of soreness from a combination of being cut and having not been used before. His eyes opened and drank in the world for the first time. The monster shifted his gaze around. It was dark out, but he could still see much more than he could ever in his egg. The Goliath saw plants, animals, and the landscapes in his vision- it was very different than relying on his nose to perceive the its surroundings. He could even clearly see birds flying more than a mile away in the night sky- something impossible to achieve if he tried to smell or hear them.

"Better?"

The little Goliath stopped his wandering eyes and looked to the source of the sound. It was a creature with 4 legs crouching down on the back two and the other two hanging in the air from its upper body- one of which was still on his head and the other grasping a shiny, thin piece of rock (a knife) that it then put down on the ground at its feet. The creature was mostly hairless with the exception of its head on which there was quite a lot of long, black fur. Other than that- there was nothing. It had no scales, quills, feathers, or chitin. It was completely covered in a thin-looking brown hide that was mostly wrapped and covered by… some type of grey and blue leaves?

Goliath breathed in and smelled this creature. It smelled just like 'clean'. It occurred to him that this _was_ 'clean'.

The small monster suddenly was very faint, and he felt the beating of his own heart begin to slow. It appears death had come for the Goliath- and so soon too. Still feeling the 'clean' one's soft limb on his head, he nuzzled into it. It felt nice.

The Goliath's heart stopped.

"_**Nice."**_ That was the monster's last thought before cold darkness took him.

* * *

**(Hunter's view- Caira centered)**

"No. No. NONONONONO!"

Caira watched as the light faded from the Goliath's golden, glowing eyes. She checked around its body for a pulse but found none. The young woman cursed. Looking over the quickly cooling creature, she saw the large pool of black liquid that surrounded the body. It seemed that the wounds it had suffered were proven fatal and had caused the small Goliath to bleed out. The blood had spread far enough that Caira's boots were now standing in it. The sight gave birth to an ugly emotion in the medic's psyche- _Disgust_. However, she was not disgusted by the blood or the now-dead monster. No, she was disgusted with the failure- her failure to prevent this creature's death. _"Damn it!"_ her thoughts shouted, but she remained outwardly calm and quiet with a frown.

Caira lifted against her knees and stood up from her crouch. She then turned around and glared her two fellow hunters with a scowl on her face. The facial expression certainly made her look less than pleased.

"Well I hope you're both are proud of yourselves... because not only did you just kill an animal that was both blind and scared, but there is a good chance you also just killed perhaps the _only_ albino of its kind ever reportedly seen!" She spat at the men.

Abe looked a little awkward for drawing Caira's ire onto himself. Hank, however, did not look impressed in the slightest- not even batting an eye.

"You know what you signed up for when you joined this team, don't you missy? We're _supposed_ to kill these things. Every. Last. One. That's our job. Just 'cuz this one's got a pretty pelt don't mean that it gets a free pass."

Caira looked absolutely _pissed_.

"_Noooo_. That's _your_ job! Not mine. I for one didn't come all this way out on the Arm for shits and giggles." She retorted furiously. "I am a _scientist_, and the reason why I came here in the first place was to catalog the unprecedented wildlife of Shear. While you blast every monster and whatever else that moves into in the crosshairs of your damn orbital barrages, I'm trying to figure out what's behind the beast: what makes them tick. Maybe I can find what is driving the monsters to be so hostile to the colonists. How am I supposed to do that when everything you send me is in pieces or burnt to a crisp, huh?!"

Okay, so Caira _is_ absolutely pissed. She continued- raising her voice louder by the second.

"And look at this." She said gesturing to the lifeless Goliath. "This one would have been the perfect specimen to actually try to capture _alive_:-" She started visibly counting the points on her fingers. "(1) Its size was manageable for transport and could be effectively restrained if needed. (2) It showed absolutely no hostilities toward either of you before you killed it. And to top it off, (3) it was a fucking _albino_! That 'pretty pelt' as you so called it means that its genetic makeup could be entirely different from that of a normal Goliath! It could very well hold the key to unlock innumerable mysteries that our employers- not to mention the scientific community as a whole- may have!" The team's healer listed off furiously. "And what did you do? YOU FUCKING _KILLED_ IT! DO YOU SEE WHY I'M ANGRY NOW?!"

Hank tried to hide it, but he knew he was going to lose this argument. Honestly, he didn't think he got paid enough to deal with difficult people like this girl no matter how many zeroes are on his paycheck. He took a long drag from his ever-present cigar before letting out a smoke-filled sigh.

"Well there's nothin' to do about it now. So stop whining over spilt milk, and let's get back to the ship." He said, determined to push off the argument and move on. But before he could take even a single step, Caira walked right in front of the gruff man, raised her palm in a firm stopping gesture, and stared him straight in the eye.

"Ooooohh no. Not yet. Both of you are going to carry this guy all the way back to the ship after what you've done." She said pointing at the Goliath's lifeless form. The scientist then turned away and began walking off, still talking over her shoulder. "If we are fast enough, I may be able to get _some_ info from it. Could even be useful. So you _better_ make sure that its body doesn't get even more damaged, or else I may 'accidently' fry your adrenal glands while boosting on our next sortie."

And with that, Caira left the two men to openly curse at her retreating back as she made her way to the pick-up point with brows slightly furrowed and a frown set on her attractive face. Don't get her wrong. She loved her fellow hunters and trusted most of them with her life, but she was pissed at the two men she had just left- mostly for what she saw while she was with the fatally wounded monster. The look that that Goliath gave her when their eyes met just made her feel so sad when it died- not to mention when it was _nuzzling _into her palm. What was up with that?! Monsters have _never_ shown this kind of behavior! It was just so... Different.

Caira doubled her pace. She_ had_ to get that thing's body onto the ship and in a stasis field before decomposition starts to set in. That shouldn't be too hard if those two jackasses took her seriously back there with her threat- a threat that she knew she was fully capable of pulling off... Yeah, they should be able to do the job. For the moment though, the scientist continued to speed off in the direction of the designated pick-up point. She wanted that stasis field ready when the other two arrived.

_"I hope I can get it to Lazarus in time."_ Caira softly thought to herself.

* * *

**Well there you have it. Chapter 1. Now just going to list a few things**

****Author's Notes:** **

**-The Goliath appearance is different from a regular one (Not the picture I'm using at the moment. That is something I asked a deviantart user to use. I made fanart as I said above). On top of the fact that it is an albino (yes, the albino elite skin), this monster is much smaller than even a stage one Goliath. His back legs are shorter than they normally should be while his tail is noticeably longer. His musculature in general is more wiry than a regular goliath, but who's to say that isn't because of his size (or is it something else? _Hmmm_). His hide also only has spikes in areas different than usual- mostly on his tail, spine and head. To wrap it up, the dimensions are a three foot long tail, one and a half feet tall on all fours, two feet tall standing hunched over on his back legs, four and a half feet from tip of the nose to the end of the tail.**

**-Back on the topic of being similar to _We Have a Goliath-_ yes, I used Caira as well, but honestly she is practically the only one that would care about a monster at all and also because of her reason for being on Shear in the first place- to finish a field guide of wildlife on the Arm (the galactic spiral arm we live in) that she had grew up reading and whose author she idolized. The chance of having a live monster to study would be a gold mine for her and I'm sure Lazarus can agreed (hint hint).**

**I chose a Goliath because: it is the most flexible of the monsters in most situations, it is the most pleasing to the eye (not that I don't my Cthulhu-faced Kraken), it is the easiest to believe could form a bond with humans (IMO), and finally, the Goliath has certain qualities listed on Evolves website that give me great inspiration to write about later on (either go on the site or wait because I'm not going to spoil it). **

**-I have not picked a name for the monster, yet. If you wish to try to give one, suggestions are welcome, although I do not promise that I will definitely use one give in the review. **

**So far I have: **

**+Darwin (from Charles Darwin)**

**+David (from the story of David and Goliath)**

**+Sig (from Frans Sigmund Luekhart- the author of the field guide that inspired Caira).**

**+Spike**

**+Ghost**

**+Grey**

**Please write a review if you liked it and want to see more.**

_**Editted 04/22/15**_

_**Update 05/15/15 (SEE TOP)**_


	2. Chapter 2: We Have Lift Off

**Hey! I'm Finally back!**

**Dialogue key:**

"talking"

_"Thinking"_

**Like last time, I do not own Evolve (if I did, I would have opted to put in an _actual_ campaign. I like the game alot, but what would really put it make it great is a story the player can connect to.).**

**Here we go.**

* * *

**(Night time, Water Treatment Plant, Caira-centered)**

It did not take Caira long to arrive at water treatment plant where the pick-up point for the team had been designated.

She touched down onto the ground level of the facility, throwing dirt around as her jump pack proceeded to shut off. The biologist looked around but didn't see anyone from her team.

"Wait. That's right. We're supposed to meet up at the launch field." Caira said to herself.

The colonists here _did_ have a landing platform, but Bucket had told them before dropping that it was too small for the ship, and that they would have to use the clearing on the opposite side of the facility. Caira shrugged and decided to walk there on foot. She wasn't in a hurry, and it would take a little while for Abe and Hank to get there.

As she made her way through the place, Caira couldn't help but look around. The facility itself still bore the scars of the goliath that had attacked only hours earlier. The ground was littered by large chunks of debris, deep craters, and wrecked working equipment. Fires still burned throughout the area as what little of the surviving colonists attempted to extinguish the flames. Looking further up, the woman saw by light of the moon that many of the pipes around were bent and warped in multiply areas. The damage was high, but Caira knew that it could have been much worse and that Shear's government would send aid that would get the plant back up and running within a Solar week. The same could not be said for the creature that had caused all of this.

* * *

**(Not really a flashback. More like a Summary)**

When Caira and her team had been called in, they were ready for a hard fight- and it was a good thing they were.

Upon arrival, the hunters found that the attacking monster had consumed enough biomass from colony personnel and the surrounding wildlife to self-initiate a catalyst to evolve into what now is officially referred to as 'Stage Two'. _That_ had made things a bit harder for Caira's group, and it only got worse when the beast hatched a 'Stage One' goliath out of one of the eggs. Together, the goliaths caused wanton destruction as they tried their hardest to devour the team of hunters. Thankfully, though, the creatures did not succeed.

In the end, the group of humans prevailed. It had taken skill, expert team coordination, and no small amount of luck, but they somehow managed to take down both monsters before either could evolve again or hatch another egg.

And now, both beasts were nothing more than bits and pieces of burnt flesh having been pounded into the ground by a hail of orbitally-fired missiles curtesy of Hank.

* * *

**(End Summary)**

Caira begrudgingly admitted to herself that there was a fair chance that she would be dead had it not been for those barrages called in by Hank.

"I still think there must be a better way to kill them while leaving the body intact." She muttered as she kept walking.

The medic started to walk a little faster as her destination finally came into view.

The airfield was a simple sight. It was just a section of forest that was cleared out and leveled off with layers of asphalt. It covered a large area- much larger than the landing platform that Caira had just come from. This area was probably used for when larger ships came to deliver the bigger supplies such as building materials and heavy machinery while the smaller platform was meant more for ferrying workers to and from the nearby colony. Currently though, the only thing that could be seen on the tarmac was the dropship that had its lights shine through the dark of the night, still waiting for the hunters to return.

Caira jogged the last stretch of distance to the ship and ran alongside its hull to the back where the loading doors would be. As she turned around the corner, the medic stopped to find a familiar face.

Aleksey Markov, the Martian with an endless lust for battle and acting heavy-hitter for the hunting sortie, was leaning again one of the open blast doors while he waited on the rest of the team and turned his gaze to the one that had just appeared. Caira hadn't seen him since she split up with (ditched) him.

* * *

**(Flashback)**

After killing the goliaths, the team had split up into groups of two to search and destroy any eggs that remained in the area- Markov and Caira taking the North half while Abe with Hank took the South half. That way, the job could be completed faster. It was going rather smoothly until Abe radioed that he and Hank had found an empty egg. It set the hunters a little more on edge knowing what that meant, but they could handle a single Stage One monster easy. Markov and Caira quickly decided to finish their half of the area and meet up with the other two to hunt down the beast. That _was _the plan.

However when Abe radioed in again saying that they found the monster, claiming that it was an oddly small goliath with a very pale-looking pelt, Caira spazzed out. She was shouting something over the team's intercom about telling them to stop, but Hank had presumably activated his cloaking field and both had gone radio-silent.

Before the Martian could try to calm her down and ask what was wrong, the team's medic activated her Adrenaline Boost and shot off in the direction of their teammates, shouting to go on and finish the area sweep without her. He didn't even bother following her into the dark foliage- he couldn't have at the speed she was running.

* * *

**(End Flashback)**

And now, both hunters stared at each other with Caira looking a tad bit sheepish at the large man she stood in front of.

"_I wonder if he's mad."_ She thought.

Markov had a frown set into his face, but he was always like that, and the fact that about half of the man's face was covered with the SOLGE suit (which Caira was still pretty sure meant 'fuck off' in Martian) interface certainly didn't help. Even so, there was no reason to take any unnecessary risks. Caira did _not_ want to end up with the Martians ire.

"H-hey there Markov. Long time, no see. Heh. Heh…heh…" She laughed semi-nervously, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hallo Caira. I take it that you are well? You took off quite fast back there." The large man replied neutrally. **(AN: Heads up. I wrote in a way I expected Markov to speak, so any errors found were most likely intentional. Just think of a Russian accent.)**

"Yeeeaaah. Sorry about that I had… _something_ to deal with that needed my immediate attention… D-did you finish sweeping the area alright?" Markov's attitude suddenly changed from questioning to something almost like bragging.

"Oh yes. I found and destroyed two more eggs. Not very exciting... That is, until a Megamouth thought it was good idea to try to eat me." He finished with a wide smile. Caira was looking a little frantic.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Are you wounded? It didn't bite you, did it?" Okay, maybe a _bit _more than a little.

"Да, I am okay. The _beast_ however is not! Hahaha! You should have _seen_! For moment, I had to rely on punching with bare hands to get it off! The battle was_ glorious_! Hahahahaha!" Markov laugh heartily, proud of what he accomplished. Claira however, couldn't help but sigh.

"Crazy Martian. Only someone from the red planet could enjoy fighting a five ton carnivorous animal in a one-on-one brawl… well, that or if you're a psychotic chem-trooper with a fetish for fire." If Markov heard her over his laughter, he didn't show it.

It was at that moment that Hank and Abe chose to show up, coming down to land a few paces behind Caira. They both wore slight scowls that conveyed irritation- with the source of said irritation being held up between the two. Now, the medic knew that the goliath couldn't have been unbearably heavy to the two healthy men. So guessing by their expressions, she would have to say that had something to do with the fact that hauling anything through the dark between two individual jetpacks along with both mens' already-hefty gear was not easy.

The hunters eased the carcass of the goliath down to the ground, careful not to drop the thing right in front of the irate lady that had a napalm grenade launcher strapped to her hip. Finally done with their job, Abe and Hank wordlessly made there way into the ship. Caira nodded to each as they passed. They nodded back half-heartedly. When she turned back around, she could feel a slight tenseness in the air and the reason was Markov.

The Martian had stopped laughing a while ago and his one visible eye was now narrowed on the body of a goliath that laid out at his feet. He looked to Caira.

"What is this?" The voice was not demanding, but it expected an answer. And so Caira provided.

"Uh, remember I said something needed my attention?" A nod. "Weellll,_ this_ is that 'something'." She said, gesturing to the body.

"I still do not understand." Caira walked over to the body.

"I'll explain it on the way back to the ship. However, it would be in our best interests at the moment to get this into a stasis field as soon as possible. Hey, can you lend me some muscle? I don't think I can carry this guy by myself."

"Mister Cabot said that bringing creatures back to the ship is prohibited, Caira." The Martian said as he crossed his thick arms over his chest.

Caira let out a tired sigh.

"Come ooonnn, Markov. We don't have time for this! I need to get the body stabilized before decomposition starts to set in. Besides, this guy is dead as a doornail… Look. See?" The medic tugged the body around to show the fatal wounds the goliath's body sported to her fellow hunter.

Even as Markov stared at the holes in the carcass's side, he still didn't look convinced. He was about to make a remark when a new voice joined the conversation happening outside the ship.

"That may be the case Miss Diaz, but therein lies a different problem." The voice was electronic and male in nature. The two hunters turned around to see a metal, humanoid figure step out of the ship and into the night.

"Bucket." Caira stated. "Wait, I thought your mobile frame was with another team."

"Oh, the mission was completed before yours and without another mission to take, I decided to deliver you all back to the ship personally… Well, this isn't much more personal by my standards as I am still am merely broadcasting my voice to you through an audio output device, but you hunters seem to think otherwise." Markov nodded while Caira gave the yellow robot a strange look.

"Anyways, back my statement to you earlier. You see Miss Diaz, I am tasked with operating the dropships to and from Cabot's ship and enforcing the marshal's set regulations to the best I can capably manage while he is not present. This includes preventing a possible breach in security by retrieved wildlife. I am sorry Miss Diaz, but I cannot allow you to bring that carcass onto the ship."

At this final statement the doors to the dropship behind the robot shut with a loud, metallic _CLANG_. Caira looked to be at a loss for words.

"But Bucket, I can finally be

"That may be true Caira, but, even if that is the case, you are attempting to bring a deceased goliath- one of the most dangerous and unpredictable species of fauna that humanity has ever encountered- back to the marshal's ship when very little is known about the creature's biology. That could prove to be quite risky. For instance, the carcass could break down and release toxic chemical into the ship's already-hard-to-manage atmosphere."

Caira had heard enough. She stared the mechanical AI in its blue photoreceptor with a hard look on her face.

"And_ that_ is exactly why I'm doing this. WE! KNOW! _NOTHING_! Ever since we got to this planet, we have been deployed nearly nonstop trying to save every colonist- which is not a bad goal if not impractical. Every day, it's 'hunt the monster', or 'evacuate the civilians' or my new favorite 'destroy the monster's nest'.

"We are so frantic to locate and put down these creatures when their sighted that we hardly know _anything_ about them other than they do not like humans- and that's just talking about their behavior patterns. Our information on their anatomy is surely lacking and the gathered reports from colonists about each species' origins are starting to sound like fairytale-superstition with nobody actually _trying_ to investigate! The longer we go without definite information on these monsters, the more lives are going to be lost in our ignorance!

"And this-" She pointed at the body of the monster still lying on the ground. "is our chance to cure ourselves of that ignorance. I have the qualified experience to fully analyze this body, and the best place to study it properly is in the ship's lab."

Caira lost a bit of her steam and calmed down a bit."There isn't any certainty that I will find some ground-breaking discovery that will save us all," She admitted solemnly "_but_ whatever I _do_ find will certainly prove to be more useful than nothing at all... Isn't that reason enough to let me and it through, Bucket?"

The robot stood still, looking between the pleading medic and the dead goliath. Caira could not tell what was going on inside the robots motherboard, but she prayed that it ran along the lines of letting her take the body with them.

"I… cannot deny that new information about these beasts would more-than-likely prove useful later on. Hmmm. Yes, perhaps I spoke too soon earlier. Alright Miss Diaz. I approve of you studying this carcass in the pursuit of further knowledge about the creature." With a flick its eye, the robot signaled for the ship's doors to reopen.

Caira gained a bright smile on her face. "YES!" The medic pumped her fist into the air and jumped around a bit. "Thanks a lot, Bucket! You won't regret this. You are definitely one _rad_ robot!"

"Hmmm… 'rad'. Not in my immediate vocabulary data banks. Earthborn jargon may I presume?... Ah, here it is. 'Rad- a slang term most often used by youths in casual conversation when attempting to describe an object, person, place, or event in an exceptionally positive light.' So I am 'rad' Miss Diaz?"

The medic had listened to the bot's dictionary speech with an bemused expression and merely nodded to the question asked- even giving the tin man a thumbs up.

"Very well then. Now back to the topic at hand. I will allow transport of this deceased goliath back to the ship for further study conducted by you, however-"

Caira's good mood seemed to melt away at hearing 'however'.

"I will need to inform Cabot about this. A captain must always know what goes on in his ship. And with me knowing the marshal for so long, I think I know how he will react. Fortunately, or unfortunately for the current subject being discussed, Cabot has proven to be a _very_ cautious man- never risking more than what is necessary on missions and that goes for the operation as a whole as well. No doubt that when he hears about this goliath carcass, the marshal will most-likely reject your request– even_ with _all of the good points you have made." Bucke gestured to the goliath.

"He will probably order it burned or to simply leave it behind. Such a waste too." The robot stated offhandedly.

With every word Caira's spirit sank lower and lower up until the end._ "So… that's it?_ This_ is where I'm stopped? The driver says 'yes', but the boss says 'no'?"_ The woman's thought bounced around in her head. This looked like the end of a something great before whatever it was even begun.

But the yellow-clad robot wasn't through talking.

"Although, at the moment the marshal is preoccupied. It seems that Cabot is with Mr. Parnell at a colonist drinking establishment. Apparently, they are taking break after completing their latest assignment and are currently intoxicating themselves- a meeting of _utmost_ importance I imagine. Alas, this means I cannot attempt to deliver this new information to the marshal or else I may interrupt them while they are discussing future plans to exterminate the monster menace. That could affect the entire planet! No, I shouldn't try to contact him at_ all_\- maybe not even until he gets back to the ship. And who _knows_ when the next dropship will be available for him to use?..."

**(AN: Yeah, Bucket's a sarcastic little shit, ain't he? :P)**

Caira's face gained a beleaguered expression. _"Did Bucket just insinuate that he would withhold information from Cabot and even intentionally delay his and Parnell's return from the bar they are at- all for the sake of _me_?!"_

Before Caira could voice her question, the robot turned promptly on his metal boot heel and began walking toward the ship.

"No matter. Mister Abe and Hank seem to be getting annoyed at our tardiness, and I believe I agree that we have spent an unnecessary length on time here. Please hurry along you two."

And with that, Bucket's back disappeared inside the dropship.

Caira looked beside here, where Markov still stood. Through the entire conversation Caira and Bucket had, he had remained silent, and Caira didn't know what his reaction had been to

Wordlessly Markov stepped toward the goliath's body, with his lightning gun gripped in both hands. Caira began to think badly before she saw the Martian set his weapon down on the ground beside him. He then gripped the goliath by the undersides of its shoulders and slung the limp carcass across his own right shoulder. Markov picked his gun back up and turned to Caira.

"Let's go." He said this as he made his way toward the ship's doors.

Caira simply nodded and followed the large man into dropship with the doors closing shortly after as the vessel began to lift-off.

* * *

**A/N: Not really satisfied with this chapter. It's shorter than what I usually can do and I rather wanted to get to the ship, but the content just felt like it should end here for as a chapter.**

**Sorry that it took longer than expected to post._ Destiny_'s "House of Wolves" and The Witcher 3 coming out in the same week will do that- that and I was brainstorming another story.**

**For those of you that did not see my update in the last chapter, I have made a pencil drawing fan art piece for this story. It is of how I picture my goliath to look. The link to my deviantart is on my profile.**

**I will try to post the next chapter within a few weeks, and it _will_ be awesome.**

**Remember to leave a review so I can see how you like the story so far.**


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